In Bond Fine Wine. 2021 Peter Sisseck Pingus, Ribera del Duero, Castilla y Leon, Spain. Red spain - red in 3x75cl. Top critic score: 100/100 (JS). Drinking window: 2025+. Sold in bond by Albany Vintners, independent fine wine merchants.
Few winemakers have made quite the impression on Spain as Danish-born Peter Sisseck. Arriving in Ribera del Duero in the early 1990s, he established Dominio de Pingus in 1995. His first vintage, Pingus 1995, caused a stir, quickly establishing it among Spain’s most sought-after wines. Made in tiny quantities (just 8,000-9000 bts) from exceptionally old Tempranillo vines, it remains his flagship. Flor de Pingus offers a more accessible, earlier drinking expression. The third wine, PSI, is made by working with local growers to preserve the region’s old vineyards and traditional farming. Over the years, Sisseck has moved away from the more powerful, heavily extracted style of his early wines, placing greater emphasis on freshness, elegance and the character of Ribera del Duero’s remarkable old vines.
Joaquin Hidalgo (JHi) — 98/100 · Vinous, 16/11/2023 · Drink 2025-2045
The 2021 Pingus is a 100% Tempranillo sourced from selected four-hectare parcels with clay/lime soils in a vineyard planted in 1929 in La Horra, Ribera del Duero and was aged for 20 months in French oak barrels. Garnet-red in the glass with a purple sheen. The nuanced nose presents subtle but enticing notes of sour cherry and violets. However, its real character comes out in the mouth: a combinat…
Luis Gutiérrez (LG) — 98–100/100 · Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com, 16/06/2022 · Drink 2025 - 2040
The subtle, austere and nuanced sample of the 2021 Pingus I tasted was harmonious, balanced and elegant. It's basically pure Tempranillo from La Horra that is young but surprisingly harmonious, very precise, clean, pure, with no apparent oak despite being a barrel sample. The wine is maturing in barrels that were previously used for PSI; Sisseck purchased a couple of 1,500-liter oak vats that he'…
James Suckling (JS) — 100/100 · JamesSuckling.com, 05/12/2022 · Drink 2032+
Violets, flint, graphite, dark chocolate, ink pot, and hints of herbs such as tarragon. Black truffles. Tar and hints of sandalwood. Black tea. Medium-bodied with very linear tannins that are tight and polished with fine silky texture. It's endless and seamless. Profound and deep. Super structure and balance. This needs six or eight years of bottle age at least. Try after 2032.